


prothalamion

by veliso



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Angst, F/F, Minor Unrequited Kliff/Alm, Possibly Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 18:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13840410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veliso/pseuds/veliso
Summary: Mae cries at the wedding. She's not alone.





	prothalamion

She cries at the wedding. 

She can feel the great heaving sobs coming up her throat, so she goes out to the courtyard and wails out her grief, wails out her anger, wails out her soul. 

(“You’re... I mean... _Him?_ ” She’s baffled, too flabbergasted to make coherent sentences. “He’s the prince of freaking Rigel! Your... your archenemy!”

“No longer,” Celica says evenly. “Now, no longer ruled by gods, we can make one kingdom of Valentia.”

“Celica, that’s... I mean, that’s amazing, but...”

“But what?”

What about us, she wants to ask. There is no us, she reminds herself. What they shared was chaste and ephemeral, touching hands in the dark, lips brushing past each other like a rushing river barely splashing the grass. There was no them. No chance against a prince.

In a moment of boldness, as Celica walks away as she so often does, she manages to belt out “Do you love him?” Silence. “Answer me, Celica!”

As the river runs its course, the love of her life is already gone.)

The music goes on inside, muffled. Silque is singing them a love song. A prothalamion for what feels like her funeral, she thinks. Seeing Celica in her dress had felt like being buried alive; now, the lid is closed and the dirt has swallowed her whole. 

She’s sitting in the grass and her dress is ruined; to top off the moment, she even feels a few falling droplets of rain. 

“Great,” she says to no one. 

“Isn’t it just?” says a disembodied voice, coming out of the shadows to reveal one of Alm’s villager friends (Chad? Klaus?). 

“Can you maybe leave me alone? Heartbroken girl here,” she says drily. The rain’s started to mix in with her tears, so maybe now she looks slightly less like a snivelling mess. 

“You too?” he asks simply. He doesn’t wait for her to react; she must look too out of it. “I wasn’t going to tell him between Terror-dismembering sessions that I’d loved him since we were six. By the time I’d actually gathered up the guts to do it, it was too late.”

“Oh,” says Mae weakly. 

“Not that it would’ve mattered. He loves her.”

“And I love her,” she bursts out. “And I told her and she didn’t care.” She hasn’t prayed to Mila since the day Celica walked away from her. She had once thought that maybe Mila was taking care of them all from beyond the grave, but she has a stupid sword in her head, and besides, the fact that Celica walked away without once looking back can only mean that Mila’s abandoned her. Well, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but in terms of love, no gods seem to be on her side. Mae, eternal spinster, she labels herself. She’ll have to get used to that one. 

“At least you told her,” the boy says with obviously feigned nonchalance. “He’s over there being radiant, as he should be since he stuck a sword in a corrupted god’s head, and we’re here, being... being...”

“Losers,” Mae finishes. 

(“I’m a loser,” Mae whines as she kicks a rock into the sea for emphasis. 

“You are not,” Celica announces resolutely. 

They are twelve, and the waves of the vast sea are huge, almost licking their legs even though they’re on the boardwalk. “I am too! What good am I to you if I can’t even fling a stupid lightning spell?” She kicks another rock into the sea.

“Stop that,” says Celica. “You’ll hurt the fish.”

Mae plops down on a boulder, heaving a sigh. “See? I kick rocks and kill fish and I can’t even fry them after, ‘cause even my fire spells are half-baked!”

Celica bursts out into a fit of giggles. “Nice one, Mae!”

“What?”

“Fire spells? Half-baked?” Mae groans, though she can’t help but feel a smile yanking at the corners of her mouth. “Okay, that was not intentional.” 

“See, there’s the smile I love,” says Celica with a grin. “That’s what I wanted to say. Even if you couldn’t do magic, I’d want you by my side. You always make me happy.”

“Celica...” Mae lets out an uncomfortable laugh and hops off of the boulder. She can’t say she’s used to being praised. Between Nomah’s lectures when her attention span wanes and Boey’s barbs, she finds her life sorely lacking in compliments. “That’s really, really sweet. Thank you.” 

Celica springs up, the sudden movement ending whatever tender moment might have been at hand. “We should head to the market, then.” She takes off running, leaving Mae dazzled in her wake as she always has. “Race you!” she shouts.

“I’m coming for you,” says Mae, her bare feet pounding against the hard rock, hearing her heartbeat and wondering what it would be like to hear Celica’s.)

“We lost,” says the boy bitterly. “We’re second choices.”

“Yeah,” says Mae. “They ran ahead and left us behind. They were meant for better things than either of us combined.”

“I knew that,” says the boy, keeping his eyes carefully pointed towards the sky. “I know that. I was just hoping that... just maybe...”

A trembling sigh is heaved. She doesn’t know which one of them it is.

(In front of Duma Tower, she grabs Celica’s hand. “You mean everything to me,” she almost begs. 

Celica nods, eyes wet, and walks into the tower, leaving Mae behind as she always has. 

“Race you,” Mae whispers to stop herself from crying.)

“Yeah,” says Mae. “It’s getting late,” she says. The clouds have parted, and the sky is beautiful and positively littered with stars. 

“Look,” says the boy. 

It’s Alm and Celica, who seemed to have pulled themselves away from the party, waving vigorously.

“Come on, you two,” shouts Celica. 

“It’s not a party without everyone,” Alm adds. 

Mae gives one last look towards the sea and runs to Celica so fast that she almost forgets she’s never felt the beat of her heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I read a sad maelica fic and felt the need to retaliate by doing a bit of sad maelica.   
> If you want to yell at me for making you sad, I can be found at @ikeranuif on twitter.  
> I take screenshots of kudos and comments and print those screenshots onto pillows, which I then hug to my chest when I feel sad.  
> That's all. I hope you enjoyed reading this!


End file.
